Civil War Confederate Brigadier General, US Congressman. When the Civil War began, he was a lawyer in practice when he enlisted in the Confederate Army. Despite no prior military experience, he was elected Colonel of the 9th Mississippi Infantry Regiment and promoted Brigadier General in February 1862. He led the 9th Mississippi at the Battle of Shiloh, in the Kentucky Campaign and at the Battle of Murfreesboro. In 1863, he was appointed commander of the Confederate military operations in Mississippi and Kentucky. During the last years of the war, he served with the Confederate Army of Tennessee, before his surrender in May 1865. After the war, he resumed his law career and was a member of the Mississippi State Senate, 1876 to 1877. In 1877, he was elected as aDemocrat to the Forty-fifth and Forty-sixth Congresses, serving until 1881. (bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith)

"When the Civil War began, he was a lawyer in practice when he enlisted in the Confederate Army. Despite no prior military experience, he was elected Colonel of the 9th Mississippi Infantry Regiment and promoted Brigadier General in February 1862."-
Darlene T.Added: Jan. 10, 2015